1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to electronic devices having near field communication circuitry and near field communication applications, and more particularly to a device having an application discovery manager and a protocol manager capable of selecting one near field communication applications at different protocol stack levels from many near field communication applications.
2. Background Art
Mobile devices today are becoming increasingly complex. By way of example, a mobile telephone was used—no too long ago—only for making telephone calls. Today, however, some mobile telephones are equipped with near field communication technology, such as radio frequency identification (RFID) circuits, infrared communication circuits, and so forth. This near field communication technology can obtain information from other near field communication devices, deliver information to near field communication terminals, and even engage in financial transactions.
By way of example, when carrying a device equipped with near field communication technology, a person can use the device in place of traditional cards, currency, or tickets. For instance, “virtual cards” can be loaded into a “virtual wallet” within the device. A virtual wallet is simply an electronic application on the device that includes a virtual card software application. The virtual card software application hosts various virtual cards, which may include a credit card, a debit card, a public transportation pass, tickets to a play, and so forth. The virtual card application manages the virtual cards and permits user selection of the cards as well.
When a user approaches a near field communication terminal, such as a payment terminal at a restaurant or a ticket gate at the subway, the user manually selects a virtual card from the virtual wallet and waves the mobile device across the near field communication terminal. The mobile device then transmits the information wirelessly to the near field communication terminal via the near field communication circuitry. As such, the mobile device takes the place of a physical wallet.
In addition to being able to use virtual cards, portable electronic devices having near field communication technology are also capable of operating as near-field readers as well. A reader application within the electronic device is capable of reading external objects like RFID tags or smart posters. (A smart poster is a poster that includes a near-field communication tag capable of being read by the wireless near-field transceiver. A smart poster for a movie may include a near-field communication tag having information about show times, movie merchandise, and the like. When a user passes an electronic device having a wireless near-field communication circuit within a predetermined distance of such a poster, the device may read the information and present corresponding information on the display.)
The problem with all of these near field communication applications, including the many virtual cards, reader applications, and other applications, is that it can be cumbersome and difficult for the user to select the proper application for a particular near field communication device. For instance, a commuter carrying a briefcase and computer bag may not want to sift through a stack of application icons and menus in a mobile telephone to access a virtual subway card to be able to get on the subway. That same commuter would again not want to stumble through menus and icons to access a virtual identification card when he arrived at work. To further compound the problem, various near field communication terminals can use different technologies. This requires the user to alert the mobile device as to what type of technology a corresponding near field communication uses.
In short, the advent of near field communication technology in mobile devices offers users the ability to wirelessly communicate with a wide variety of near field communication technologies using a wide variety of near field communication applications. However, navigation among applications is time consuming and cumbersome. There is thus a need for a method and apparatus to facilitate automatic selection of a near field communication application without requiring the user to manually sift through lists of icons or menus.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.